Abstract

Apis mellifera scutellata Lepeletier (Hymenoptera : Apidae) extends from South Africa to Ethiopia but includes local populations of varying morphology. The honeybees of Uganda previously represented an important biogeographical gap in defining the population structure of A. m. scutellata, but have now been resolved by morphometric analyses of worker honeybees analysed with multivariate techniques. Honeybees of lower altitudes (&lt; 2000 m) formed one distinct morphocluster typical of A. m. scutellata throughout the continent, while those at higher altitudes (&gt; 2000 m) formed a separate distinct cluster of large, dark bees. The latter occur as an archipelago of mountain ecotypes of A. m. scutellata.